Hormones, War, & Roses
by kella923
Summary: Set during the First Wizarding War, this is the story of the Marauder's seventh year at Hogwarts. May contain snark, bad puns, and a certain Muggleborn redhead. None of these characters belong to me, but to the great Joanne Kathleen Rowling.
1. Sept 1, 1977

James was nervous. Of course, he was never nervous, but arriving at King's Cross Station on September 1, 1977 had hit him hard. For the past six years at Hogwarts, he had goofed around, gotten good grades, and gotten into trouble. He had fallen in love many times with various older buxom girls from all the Houses, and he had made very good friends (as well as some enemies). This year was different. He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named was gaining more and more followers, including some of the Slytherin students in James' year, and his family and their friends were in increasing danger. People had already died, but James was forced to remain in school another year, as Quidditch Captain and Head Boy. He would rather abandon Hogwarts to join Dumbledore's Order, but his parents wouldn't allow it. After kissing them goodbye on the platform, he pushed his way on to the train, trunk in hand, to find an empty compartment. He hadn't seen Padfoot, Moony, nor Wormtail at the station, but they would probably be along shortly. Finding an unoccupied compartment towards the end of the train, James heaved his trunk up onto the luggage rack and flopped down onto the nearest red-cushioned window seat. The blinds were drawn on the compartment doors, and for a few minutes he had a private moment to collect his thoughts and to suppress his unusually active nerves. If his parents were going to prevent him from fighting for another year, James would simply have to make sure that Hogwarts was as safe as possible. After a few moments of these thoughts, he stood up, stretched (he would be painfully sore after the first Quidditch practice of the season), and reached out to raise the blinds. In spite of everything he was going through mentally, it really was a beautiful September 1st.

BANG! The door burst open and in piled his three best friends. Sirius Black, bearing a toothy, handsome smile, Peter Pettigrew, laughing loudly at James as he stumbled backwards into the seat cushions, and Remus Lupin, who was quietly shaking his head at Sirius' antics. James felt the butterflies in his stomach settle almost immediately as he engulfed his best mates in bone-crushing boys immediately relaxed into their routines of humiliating each other and making terrible puns about each other's' Animagi transformations, along with reflecting on their summers and pestering James about whether or not he had landed a real date with Lily Evans yet. Finally, for the first time all morning, he began to imagine what a good year he was truly going to have, even if saving the world was the first step.

Remus was having the best Hogwarts Express ride that he could remember in his school career. While he usually spent these long train rides buried in a new textbook or practicing wand technique while the other boys jostled about the compartment, this was different. James had practically accosted the trolley witch as she came down the train corridor, and the mischievous quartet was now in possession of almost half of the Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, and Cockroach Clusters that she was offering. Even with the threat of war in the backs of all their minds, the four young men threw candy wrappers on the scuffed floor of the compartment, joking and complaining about how much coursework they would have to start getting Hufflepuffs to do for them. Remus was struck (as he was almost weekly) by the fact that he had three true, best friends. He had spent the summer holed up in his bedroom, avoiding the turmoil outside while trying to hide his transformations. Getting high marks in his classes had made him a teacher's favorite, and had given him a few well-rounded friends, including Lily Evans and Marlene McKinnon, while his condition itself and his quiet sense of humor had drawn him to Padfoot, Wormtail, and Prongs. He was surprised to find himself laughing with the others, as they took the mickey out of James for his promotion from Quidditch-playing-trouble-maker to Head Boy.

"Hey, Moony! Have your eye on any of the birds this year? It's about time you got yourself some _tail_!" Sirius suddenly punched Remus in the arm, making him flush and retaliate with a punch to the former's gut.

"Not yet, we haven't even arrived yet! What about you, still trying to find a girl who will put up with your fleas- I mean puns?" In the corner, Peter was rolling his eyes- it had become the tradition between Remus and Sirius to make horrible canine puns at each other, mainly to relieve Remus of the pressures of his condition and to remind Sirius that transforming into a dog wasn't quite enough to get the girls to like him. The excessive tail-wagging could be a bit much sometimes. He could see James staring out the window at the rolling Scottish countryside, and wondered what could possibly have taken the life out of his best friend, who only moments before had been imitating the trolley witch when he had asked her if she wanted to take a jaunt around Hogsmeade with him.

Sirius, to say the least, was confused. Having a grand time as he always did with his friends, but still confused- Remus was actually laughing, James was quiet and unresponsive to prompting about Lily, and Peter wasn't really taking part in his wordplay with their friend's "furry little problem". Of course, they were most likely contemplating the war that was surrounding them, something that Sirius knew about all too well. After all, his brother Regulus had followed the damn pattern of Black family behavior, and had joined up with the Death Eaters over the summer. At least someone was making his parents proud. By now, only an hour into the journey, almost all of the candy was already gone (thanks to four teenage boys and their metabolisms), and they were looking for something else to do. Just as Peter was trying to open the window so they could light a fag, a serendipitous distraction arrived in the form of three girls- Lily Evans, Marlene McKinnon, and Emmeline Vance. Lily's eyes were red and puffy, so Sirius immediately jumped up to hug her.

"Lily-pad! Are you excited for Hogwarts? I'm excited for Hogwarts. It's so much FUN!" She laughed a little, and he was glad; his excited-first-year act had never failed to make a pretty girl smile when she was sad. Picking her up, he twirled her around and set her in the seat between himself and Prongs, starting to poke her sides and pull her hair to make her smile. During all of this, Sirius' watchful hormone radar was not deterred- he noticed all of the little smiles and bashful glances between Remus and Marlene, and the way that Peter lit up when he saw Emmeline's rich brown hair bouncing over her shoulders as she sat across from him. He saw James' entire body relax when Lily sat next to him, and he knew that this year at Hogwarts, he would have to deal with some snogging around the place. The Gryffindor Common Room was not going to be a welcome place after hours, if this was how the train ride was working out. Luckily, Mary McDonald had been owling him over the summer, and he had a hopeful feeling that those letters would blossom into something more this year.

Peter was a bit on edge. Usually content, bemused, and amiable, he had had a rough summer and being around his old friends wasn't helping a bit. Not only was his parents' marriage becoming rocky, but Mulciber and Avery had come round a few times, trying to convince him to join some sort of group that they were in. As a Gryffindor, Peter had never had much contact with these boys before, other than the occasional double Potions or Care of Magical Creatures class, so their sudden interest in his actions was disconcerting. And they were in league with Snivellus Snape, which was a serious issue when it came to Peter's views on loyalty. It was a basic definition of the Marauder's that they hated Snape, basically just because he existed. Peter cared deeply about his friends, and he tried his best to show them through his loyalty. Because of them, he had become quite an accomplished wizard by this time in his education, he and his wand working as one. He had been one of the first to figure out how to transform into his Animagus, even if it had taken him the longest amount of time to make the transformation without any mishaps (these included one time when he thought he had succeeded but was actually a rat running around with miniaturized human hands and feet instead of paws, but luckily none of the other boys had seen him- otherwise, he would have had a nickname much worse than Wormtail). Maybe he would become an Auror after leaving Hogwarts at the end of this year. Regardless, Peter was sure that his last year at Hogwarts was going to be amazing. If this train ride was any indication, nothing would ever split him apart from James, Sirius, and Remus. They were friends, and they would stay friends. Right now, Lily was helping James force open the window with a few well-placed _Alohamora_s_, _but apparently the school management found it unwelcome to have their students smoking on the train. They probably found it welcome to have them sweltering, however. With seven people in what felt like the smallest compartment on the train, they had all stripped down to the bare necessities of their uniforms, and Lily and Remus had been flipping through their copies of The Standard Book of Spells: Grade Seven to find a proper cooling charm. On the bright side, Emmeline Vance had let her hair grow out over the summer, and as long as he slipped Avery and Mulciber into the back of his mind, everything was going great. Other than the war, of course. But he knew he needed to focus on himself, instead of what everyone else wanted him to do.

_Thank God for the Marauders_, Lily thought to herself as she settled back into the seat between Sirius and James. As she was saying goodbye to her parents at the platform, Petunia (Lily was forbidden to call her "Tuney" anymore) had arrived with Vernon in tow, ready to shoo away good old Mum 'n Dad for more wedding planning. When Lily had tried to bid farewell to her sister, asking her to send her letters and to keep in touch, Petunia had simply scowled, turned her back, and flounced away, her hair already pulled tight into a housewife's bun instead of the loose style of the decade that Lily tried to exemplify. Vernon looked back at Lily, his moustache already growing back from that morning's shave, and flashed her a look that read "_how dare you upset my fiancée like this"_, and then turned away. Lily waved to their backs, and then ran onto the train to prevent anyone from seeing her quivering lips and already-puffy eyes. Of course, she couldn't keep everyone away from her for the entire train ride, and also of course, Marlene and Emmeline had found her right away. Honestly, there was no way to keep those two from finding her when she was in a bad mood, but they were her chums, and she never really wanted them to go away once they arrived. They talked for a few minutes, the other two girls thoroughly berating Petunia for being such a rotten sister and Vernon for being an absolutely rubbish person in general. Soon, before Lily even realized it, Marlene and Emmeline had exchanged a few conspiratorial words and glances and she was on her feet being marched down the train aisle. When she finally realized what was happening, she was already being accosted by Sirius Black and plopped down in a seat next to James. However enthusiastic Black was, Lily wasn't laughing at his antics- she just couldn't help smiling when he tried so hard to help her feel better!

After some time on the train, Lily was sweating profusely. Having tried to open the window unsuccessfully with James' help, she and Remus managed to find the proper Atmospheric Charm to cool down the compartment. The rest of the train ride was less boisterous, but altogether incredibly pleasant. It was a nice change to be away from Petunia and that monstrous Vernon. It was as if they hadn't heard her crying at night, or panicking when reading the Daily Propet articles about He-Who-Must-Be-Named. It was as if they hadn't heard her screaming at Severus to leave her alone, that she would never join his creepy cult of Death Eaters. She hadn't told them that Dumbledore had offered her membership in the Order of the Phoenix after she graduated from Hogwarts. She hadn't told them that she would be fighting to save their lives, but she figured that they wouldn't care. As long as she didn't disrupt the wedding. Anyway, it was much more comforting to know that she was on the way back to Hogwarts, chatting to Peter about Paul McCartney and Wings (he had a Muggle uncle who didn't quite understand the concept of magic, but he had introduced Peter to the Beatles at an early age). She had needed the normalcy of her friends again. Besides, what could have been better than forcing Remus and Marlene to sit together? She knew they fancied each other, and Lily found nothing more completely relaxing than organizing a match between her friends. This would be a good year.


	2. After the Feast

"Prongs, where in the name of Merlin do you think you're going?"

"Sirius, let him go…"

"Really, though, where is he going in the middle of the back-to-school feast?"

* * *

><p>James heard his friends whispering behind his back as he left the Gryffindor table and strode as quickly as he could (without running) out of the hall, and without knocking over any of the first-year students who had yet to be Sorted. He could feel the family ring on his left hand still burning as he clenched his fists, sprinting up to his private quarters in the common room. Once he had reached the familiar fireplace and the large four-poster bed that would be his for the rest of the term, he slammed the oaken door shut and threw open his trunk to find the two-way mirror that he and his parents now used to communicate, since Prongs had given the Potters his side of the device because he and James were inseparable at Hogwarts and had no need for it.<p>

"Mum? Dad?" he was almost shouting into the reflective surface, only seeing himself. There was no sign of his parents, even though they had promised to always remain together and to contact him any time the "Dark Lord" and his followers showed movement, or if they were in any danger. The only reason that damn ring would start trying to burn his hand off the instant he arrived at Hogwarts would be if one of his parents… No, there was no way that they would be that reckless with their lives. If only he could see somebody else's face in the mirror…

"James?" a voice he barely recognized suddenly hit his ears, immediately opening his eyes and grabbing the damn device off the floor where he had tossed it seconds before. "Mum? Is that you? What happened, is anyone hurt? Tell me everything! I can go to Dumbledore, McGonagall, I could leave tonight if you need me to help you, what can I do, please say that Dad's okay! Was it Voldemort? What's going on?" His mother looked battered, bruised and shocked, with a small cut on her cheek and a rip in her favorite housedress. "James… You need to stay at Hogwarts, please. That's the safest place in the Wizarding world right now…" she was cut off by a bout of coughing from somewhere beyond the limits of the mirror. "Charlus, please stay with me, I need you to stay with me…" Dorea Potter looked at her son through the silver glass, tears brimming in her eyes. "Jamie, I need to take your father to St. Mungo's. You-Know-Who's followers were attacking Muggles in King's Cross Station, we did what we could to fight them off, but he's badly injured… They were using spells we had never heard of before. I can't tell you any more right now, but I can owl you once we get this sorted out. I love you, and promise me you will stay at Hogwarts!" James was struggling to process how all of this could have happened so quickly- he had been with his parents only this morning. He nodded, unable to make any words come out of his throat where they seemed to be stuck. "And James, one more thing- keep close to poor Sirius. I think I saw one of our cousins- on the Black side- fighting on the side of Death Eaters. Just make sure he doesn't do anything more reckless than usual, please. I love you, I have to go! Keep this mirror with you at all times. Goodbye!" and his mother's face vanished from the cold glass in his quaking fingers. James dropped the mirror, taking off his glasses and covering his face in one motion as his entire body began to shake with large, terrible sobs. James Potter was not one to cry, but there is always a first time for everything.

* * *

><p>As soon as all of the first-years had been Sorted and Dumbledore had named her and James as Head Boy and Girl, Lily politely excused herself from the Gryffindor table with a large plate of food and a whisper to a prefect to make sure that their new students were properly led into the common room later. "What are you doing?" hissed Remus as she frantically began to gather together some food and utensils. "Just let me go talk to him, it'll be fine!" she whispered back, climbing over the bench and out of the Hall. She knew her friend well enough to look for him in his private quarters, understanding the comfort of a warm fire and bed in times of stress. When James had practically sprinted from the feast, she had managed to cover up his disappearance with a couple of well-chosen sentences about "Head duties" and "planning a surprise for the new Gryffindors", which she knew she would now have to plan so as not to disappoint. As she made her way up to their rooms, however, she had nothing of the sort on her mind. What could have caused James to vanish not ten minutes into the best feast of the year? She knew he secretly adored his duties as Head, and most certainly would not have abandoned an entirely new crop of young lions to intimidate and scare and take right under his wing on the relatively short journey from the Great Hall to the portrait at Gryffindor Tower.<p>

When Lily Evans herself arrived there on this night, the Fat Lady immediately let her in (a nice perk of being Head Girl- no need to identify herself anywhere), and she rushed up the set of stairs to hers and James' bedrooms. His door was unlocked and barely ajar, and she could hear no sounds from within, but she tread lightly nonetheless, making sure the cutlery she had hastily snatched from the feast was still balanced on the platter she carried (Sirius had been properly offended when she had grabbed almost the entire plate of mashed potatoes out from under his fork). Pushing open the solid mass of wood that creaked no matter how gently she touched it, she crept into the Head Boy's room. By sneaking-into-boys'-rooms standards, this was hardly how she imagined it should be, but by helping-a-friend-in-distress standards, she thought she was doing a bloody fine job, if you asked her! The lamps were turned down, but Lily could just make out a body lying in front of the flickering fireplace. She couldn't tell if it was the light from the flames, but it seemed as though he was shaking.

"James? It's Evans. I know you missed the feast, but I stole us some mashed potatoes and a bit of the roast, so that we could have a proper dinner. Can I help?" James would tell her if he needed any help, she knew that much about him, so she refrained from asking what had caused his hasty departure from the Sorting Ceremony.

Without seeing any movement, she heard him whisper "did I just hear Lily Evans say the word 'stole' in a positive context? Seventh year stress must already be settling in, huh?" The words, though delivered with typical Potter-sarcasm (she was thinking of marketing that phrase), were quiet and almost lifeless. It was if something or someone had knocked the wind out of James and left him to rot in front of a dying fire, but he wouldn't go down without a fight. It almost brought tears to her eyes- she had never seen him quite this helpless before. There was nothing she could think of to do but busy herself around his room. Stoking the fire gave her hands something to do, as did tidying up his trunk and placing it neatly beside his bed. When she turned back around, James Potter was sitting up against his wardrobe, replacing his square glasses on his face, and running a tremulous hand through his hair. Lily sat down next to him, handed the Head Boy a fork, and commenced to eat some of the stolen roast, waiting patiently for him to say something- anything. About five minutes passed in this way when James suddenly blurted out-

"It's my dad. He was attacked by Voldemort's followers and he's in St. Mungo's and I'm not allowed to leave Hogwarts and see him and Sirius' cousin is a Death Eater and that means his family is involved which means my family is involved did I ever tell you I'm his mother's cousin and oh God Evans the full moon is this week and I honestly don't know what to do and we're Head Boy and Girl and Quidditch tryouts start on Monday and... I don't know what to do." His head hung low as he said these last words, and Lily instinctively threw her arm around his shoulder.

"Oh, James... I'm so sorry about all of this... That's too much for one of you to handle." Lily had learned long ago that When James Potter was upset, he didn't want someone to offer him suggestions until he was ready for them- he just wanted an empathetic listener, and that was something she could be for him. On the inside, however, her brain was running wild, thinking of going to McGonagall and Dumbledore and telling them that James needed to go to the hospital, even though they most likely already knew, and checking with Marlene to see if she could hold tryouts for Quidditch if need be (Merlin knew that Gryffindor needed a win this year), and that she might have to talk to Sirius about his family tree, and that Remus was going to have a sleepless night this week, how was she going to keep everyone safe without James? But none of this could be said out loud. Thankfully, September 1st had fallen on a Thursday this year, so they would have no classes for the next 3 days. That gave her plenty of time.

"James, I wish I could help you, but right now I'm only prepared with steak and some mashed potatoes... Oh! Do you want me to ring for a house-elf? You must be hungry by now, you've been up here so long!" When he slowly nodded his head, pulling himself together enough to sit up again, find a form, and begin to slowly pick at the plates she had brought, Lily stood up and pulled the cord at the side of the fireplace, whereupon a tiny elf appeared almost instantly from seemingly nowhere.

"Miss Evans, how kindly of you to request our services on this first night of term! What will Miss Evans and Mister Potter be requiring tonight? Is Mister Potter quite alright, miss? He seems troubled, if it's not too much for Tilly to say, miss." The elf cut quite a figure in a crisp teacloth emblazoned with the Hogwarts crest, bowing and swooping at the sight of the Head Boy and Girl. Lily grinned- something about the house-elves always made her smile.

"Just some pumpkin juice, please, Tilly. And maybe some bread and some stuffing as well? And perhaps a few desserts, if it's not too much trouble! James here has had quite a night." Lily asked as politely as possible. She was riled up to the point that her fingers were slightly trembling, but she knew the elves had to be treated politely, if there was any hope to be had of real food coming their way.

"Would treacle suffice, miss? And perhaps a few tarts? And I shall find a potion for Mister Potter's nerves, miss. Thank you for your requests!" And Tilly was off in a snap.


	3. Later that Night

Evans was a savior, she really bloody was. James had no idea how hungry he had been until she had gotten there, and mashed potatoes? Seriously, his favorite food on top of all of these terrible things overloading his senses was making everything fall to the back of his brain, letting his brain relax. For the first time in almost two hours, he felt his nerves slackening and the beating in his chest slowed to normal- well, as normal as it could try to be when Lily Evans was sitting on the floor not six feet from him, lounging on her robes while her Head Girl badge glinted on the collar of her shirt, and her green eyes sparkling in the firelight... Fuck! He had to stop looking at her, stop thinking about her... His father was in St. Mungo's and here James was, panting over a girl who had semi-loathed him since their first year? If the boys had been here, Sirius would have taken the mickey out of him for behaving this way. Well… maybe not. Sometimes when you're stressed, all you can do is focus on the parts of your life that aren't falling around yours. And by Merlin, he hoped that he wouldn't lose his friendship with Lily either, there was no way that he could bear that. James shook his head and directed his attention to the heaping plate of potatoes in front of him, just as Tilly appeared out of thin air again with what looked like the entire Gryffindor table's portion of the feast.

"Would the Head Boy and Head Girl like to eat in the common room?" she suggested, but James was having none of that. He and Evans were going to have a sad, lonesome, pity party with fattening foods on the floor of his room with no real lights and probably eventually some melancholy music. He was calmer now, but by no means did that mean that he was happy again.

"Thanks, Tilly, but I think we're well set here. Thanks for everything!" Evans was beaming at the elf with the smile she reserved for second-years asking if they could go to Hogsmeade. Tilly curtsied and disappeared behind the fireplace, leaving the two tired seventh years to their meal.

"Evans… Lily… Thanks. You know? For this. It means a lot. I'm not really going to be okay for a while, but this is helping. You know that if… well, if the lads were here, they wouldn't know what to do. Paddy would probably try to throw himself off the Astronomy Tower, Moony would try to find a logical answer or some other shit, and Pete… Pete would probably do something like this, just not quite as nice. I'm not sure he has the same connections to the kitchen elves, if I'm being honest…" He wasn't really sure that he should be talking this much, but what else was he meant to do? it's not as if he could bloody well talk about the weather or how excited he was for classes to start, or anything, right? Anyway, Evans was special! She just took charge all the time. Honestly, if they could have House Moms instead of prefects, Lily would have held the title since October of their first year. She also didn't hate him anymore, so why should he disengage? And seriously, those damn eyes of hers… Ugh. He was hopeless, but isn't that what a pity party is for?

"... know I worry about you, and if you need any more help let me know, it's not as though we won't be in close proximity with each other this term, right? Oh, James Potter, you're a bloody idiot, at least look at me when I'm being nice to you?" Bugger. Lily was in the middle of what sounded like a really sweet sentence (in another life, he would have teased the hell out of her for it) and he was being a right arse and not responding, just making terribly uncomfortable eye contact with those bloody gorgeous emeralds. Did she say that she worried about him? Damn he needed to be a better friend, starting once he figured everything out with his parents and… fuck, his parents.

Scrambling for parchment in his trunk, he started looking for a quill and some ink. He had to know if St. Mungo's had his parents, he needed to figure out a code, what if the letter was intercepted? Fuck, why didn't he have an owl? "Lily! You've got an owl, right, a nice tawny something, some name from a Muggle musician? Can I please borrow it, I need to know if my parents got to the hospital!" She pursed her lips, he could see she was upset from being cut off from scolding him, but she sighed, nodding her head. "You can borrow Elvis is you remember his name. What if it gets intercepted by the Death Eaters, what will you do? James, you really need to calm down, let me get you some ink and a quill!"

After a harrowing thirty seconds of finding parchment and related supplies, James sat down at his desk, where he assumed the administration thought that he would be doing homework and creating prefect rounds. However, if the rest of the term carried on the way this first night had gone, it seemed that he would definitely be spending all his time here writing hurried notes like the one he had just attached to Elvis. The barn owl looked a bit miffed to be used by a stranger, but with a few soft words from Lily, he was soon off into the night sky, hopefully with a keen sense of where London was located. James slumped, head on the solid wood, letting himself truly relax for the first time in about two hours. For once, he wished that the boys wouldn't show up tonight, just so that he could sleep and recover from this stress… Tomorrow, however, he would need their help. Something had to be done about Voldemort and his followers, in particular their idiotic names for themselves and their idea that fear was a way to create loyalty.

Sirius bounded up the moving stairs to the Fat Lady's portrait, hearing Moony and Wormtail panting behind him as they leaped over the disappearing steps and tried to keep up with him. The instant that Dumbledore had dismissed the students, Sirius had been off the bench and sprinting to get up to Gryffindor Tower. He was hoping that was where James had vanished to, and was praying that his best mate hadn't gone batty and tried (or succeeded) to throw himself off the battlements of the Astronomy Tower. Sirius glared at the Fat Lady until she swung open for him- the only two Gryffindors to know the password were both in the common room somewhere. Probably snogging, though the dramatic circumstances were a bit much even for him to accept. He raced up the steps to their dormitory, only to turn right around, nearly knocking over the two winded boys following him as he remembered James' new title. (To be quite honest, the only reason he knew where the Head bedrooms were was because in his fifth year, the Head Girl had led him up to hers. Luckily, nothing much happened between them that night, seeing as she decided to charm herself with excess body hair after she graduated, and became the bass player for the new band, The Weird Sisters. Weird was definitely the right word, and he did not want it to be a part of his reputation.) He was already feeling guilty about interrupting Prongs and Evans with whatever they were doing, but hey- his mate's potential bout of insanity had to be prioritized. Pushing open the oak-paneled doors, he shoved his way into James' new bedroom. "OI!" he shouted, only to see Prongs, weak and sad looking, resting with his head on his desk. Lily jumped when she saw Sirius, dropping the empty plate of mashed potatoes on the carpet. As Remus and Peter shuffled in behind him, Sirius was lost in confusion. No snogging… melancholy James Potter… lots of food… no snogging. Suddenly, there was a terrible pain in his ear and he was being dragged out of the into Lily's adjoining bedroom. She had Remus and Peter by the hoods of their robes, as well, and as soon as she had charmed the door shut she began to whisper-yell at them.

"_James' parents were attacked by Voldemort's Death Eaters tonight, his dad is in St. Mungo's, and he is panicking! He can barely talk about, you should all be thanking me for making him eat and caring for him, unlike you pricks! and SIRIUS_"- she was practically hissing at him- _"Black, I know you too well. How DARE you barge in there thinking we were snogging? You are in possession of the single filthiest mind I have ever encountered and I have gone to school with Muggles who think a girl wearing tight jeans is something to eat for dinner! Do not get me started on how angry I am with you, because right now all of you need to get in there and help him figure out how to get settled with Quidditch trials, classes, N.E.W.T.S., and just the general mess that his life has fallen into. Do NOT mention any of what I've said unless he talks about it first, and I swear to MERLIN if you, Peter, take the mick out of him I will personally Stick you to the side of the Owlery for a week. Remus, please just be kind to him? He's very upset, and then he gets confused about being upset. You know, like when he lost to Ravenclaw last year because he accidentally forgot that their Keeper was left-handed and so he sent the Quaffle to the wrong hoop? This is like that except so much worse, and I've only just got him to eat, and it's like he's been Confunded, since he's actually thanking me for helping him and he hasn't made one damn joke yet in the past hour and a half. Please, just be his friends right now?" _Lily finally relaxed, leaning herself against her bedpost and letting go of the three boys. Sirius massaged his ear, feeling as though he'd been assaulted by a Blast-Ended Skrewt that could talk.

"_Merlin, Evans, I wasn't going to fuck with him this time! Thanks for hissing my ear off, now may I talk to my best friend?" _Sirius waved a hand and ushered Wormtail and Moony back into James' room, slamming the door behind them. He liked Lily, but that girl could be a bit much. Hopefully she would go to sleep and they could all work this out in the morning.


	4. Sept 2, 1977

Lily had never been this anxious for the owl post to arrive, not in all her years at school. James' nerves seemed to have evened out since the night before (she wasn't present for whatever he talked about with the boys, but apparently it did him some good), but she could still feel his knee shaking as he sat across the Gryffindor table from her at breakfast. Even though he was laughing with Sirius at the state of Dirk Cresswell's tie (possibly the result of an evening with Glenda Chittock, who Lily had noticed sneaking out of the common room as she went down for the feast), he was still a bit twitchy, constantly looking up at the blue morning sky for a sign of wings. Finally, after what seemed like hours of Peter trying to get Lily to admit that she thought Dirk and Glenda had shagged the night before, and after making herself eat some toast and jam, the Great Hall was filled with the sound of wings. Of course, Elvis was almost the last owl to arrive (he loved to take his time), but she couldn't have been more grateful to see him. He almost landed in the jam, but James quickly scooped him up off the table and untied the two letters that hung from his leg. Lily fed the poor bird some sausage as Potter opened his mail, scanning the pages for news. She could see the envelopes, one labeled with the St. Mungo's seal, and one with handwriting she didn't recognize, although it seemed to bear an address in Wiltshire (Trowbridge, to be exact), where many affluent [read: pureblood] wizarding families kept their mansions. She knew for a fact that Lucius Malfoy stayed there with his grandparents during the summer, so it was logical that the Potters resided there as well. James was forbidding her from peeking at the letters, but for the first time in 18 hours, his mood had seemed to actually improve (instead of his acting as though it had). The clock rang out through the Great Hall, and Lily jumped up to direct the first-years to their classes; to her surprise, James got up from across the table, catching her eye.

"Lads, will you save us seats in Charms? Have to go make sure the ickle firsties don't fall off any staircases on their way to History of Magic this year." As Peter nodded vigorously (Sirius and Remus rolling their eyes over their pudding), James jogged around to the end of the Gryffindor table to wait for Lily.

"Hey, can you keep a secret?" he whispered as she started to call for the new students, craning her neck to see if any of them had managed to lose their schedules already.

"Of course I can, you tosser! Noticed how I haven't run to McGonagall about last night yet? Because I can keep a secret." she whispered back, spinning on her heel and strolling out of the Hall.

Archimedes, could James Potter have more going on? This was definitely the most hectic that his first 36 hours had ever been at Hogwarts. Thank the heavens that Elvin (Elvis? Elrond?) had finally shown up, would have knocked over half of the dishes on the table if it weren't for years of Quidditch training- combined with nerves. The letter from St. Mungo's was short, simply explaining that his father had been admitted to the hospital and that he could visit him on the fourth floor (Spell Damage) in a few days if he so wished. The second piece of mail came from his home in Trowbridge, his mother informing him that the "snake was shedding its skin", and that "the fire was going to need stoking soon". She was using their old code system, developed by his father when Voldemort first appeared in England. If this "Dark Lord" was really rising, like she said, he had to talk to Dumbledore. That damn Order of the Hippogriff, or whatever the hell it was, the "fire" that needed "stoking", might need James to drop out of school, maybe needing his friends as well! At least if that was his fate, he wouldn't have to focus on organizing Quidditch practice anymore.

James' head snapped out of his mother's handwriting as the clock chimed throughout the castle, echoing into the Great Hall and rattling the cups of pumpkin juice and cider in front of him. Across the table, Lily was jumping up and grabbing her bookbag; where the bloody hell did she think she was- oh fuck, the first-years! He sprung off the bench, parchment and quills scattering from his already-messy bag, calling out to the boys to save him and Lily seats with Flitwick. Meeting her at the end of the table, he murmured "Hey, can you keep a secret?", interrupting her efforts to get the attention of a cluster of eleven-year olds that had somehow forgotten where the exit was.

"Of course I can, you tosser! Noticed how I haven't run to McGonagall about last night yet? Because I can keep a secret." she hissed at him before marching out of the Hall. James smirked (he would try to tell her all he could on the way back to Charms), falling in line behind the little kids, making sure none of them accidentally wandered into the dungeons. Or into a ghost, for that matter. He tried to pay attention to his duties(Merlin, some of these firsties were twitchy) but it was getting difficult not to watch Evans' hair swinging in that plait down her back, her voice drifting to the back of the line as she called out to the new students. He used to tease her that he looked like one of those Muggle tour guides (he was pretty sure that was the right phrase) that he saw whenever he went to London, the ones in the funny hats waving flags around so that their tourists wouldn't fall off the Tower Bridge or whatever. Either way, he was loving the view he got- not many girls could rock the uniform's pleated skirts, but Evans was one who could. No, what was he thinking! His dad was in St. Mungo's, he might have to drop out of Hogwarts, and he hadn't even thought about when to start Quidditch try-outs. Lilypad was cute, but she was maybe 5th or 6th on his list of "James-Potter's-Things-to-Worry-About-at-Hogwarts-in-1977". At least, that's where she was supposed to be. Maybe all this stress from his parents' encounter with Lord Asshole was the reason behind all of this, that's what Remus had suggested last night. Padfoot had immediately hopped on that bandwagon, proclaiming that this anxiety about the start of a war had given James an outlet to pour his love for Lily into (he had actually started to climb up onto the desk by this point, about to expound on the wonders of love as he was wont to do, and Peter had to pull him down before he tried to leap onto the bed).

James was suddenly torn from his thoughts when he heard a first year (Bailey? Barkley?) yell "Look out!" His head jerked up, and he immediately jumped to the side, getting out of the way of the Headless Hunters barrelling along the corridor by the Fat Lady. Apparently, they had decided that terrifying the piss out of eleven-year-olds was a far better method of entertaining themselves than cantering through the dungeons and practicing for their infamous Halloween Hunt. Last year, the ghostly horses had decided to stampede the Great Hall (most likely an act of "humor" instigated by Sir Patrick Delaney-Podmore), ruining the food by running through the tables. Peeves had then taken one or two of the heads hostage, requiring the Bloody Baron to come and menace the poltergeist until he finally gave returned the body parts, although not to their proper owners. Merlin, he wished that Dumbledore would just relegate them to the dungeons now, but apparently the start-of-year festivities were just too dull and needed spicing up. Whatever the morality was of the Huntsmen though, he was surprised that Barnesley (that was definitely his name) had had the foresight to alert him to their presence. Whatever, he'd have to remember that he owed the kid one.

Did they actually need to be saving seats for them? If James and Lily had walked into McGonagall's class five minutes before the gong, they still would have been able to excuse themselves with the "Head business" excuse. Peter was glad to do it, but it was really necessary? Either way, he was sure Lily would be glad to see that they had gotten seats at the front of the classroom- on the train, she had been spouting about needing to perfect her nonverbal spells in order to pursue her career as a Healer. She had been trying out her healing spells on the Marauders all summer, fixing up their little scrapes and bruises after their Quidditch scrimmages. As he remembered, she and Moony had grown especially close after he started to let her administer to him in the days following each full moon. This last full moon had been less than a week ago, leaving Remus a bit out-of-sorts to prepare for his prefect duties, as well as their upcoming N.E.W.T exams. Hopefully the start of classes would distract him enough from his condition- besides, the younger students were always particularly wild during the first month or so, he would have enough discipline to handle. Come to think of it (and Peter was definitely thinking about it, especially if "it" was in the shape of Emmeline Vance), the upperclassmen would probably be quite unruly with the rush of encircling hormones. After all, hadn't they seen the result of Glenda Chittock's handiwork all over Cresswell this morning? It was only September 2nd, and the randiness looked like it would be at an all time high.

Peter was knocked out of his reverie quite literally, his train of thoughts stalled by a smack to the back of the head from Sirius sitting next to him. Prongs and Lily were making their way into the classroom, whispering excitedly to each other and looking happier than they had all day. On his left, Sirius was muttering under his breath, "... _guess that's two more people getting some action today, I need to turn up my _Charm! Get it, Professor, I need to turn up my _charm_, because this is _Charms_ class? Yessir, I'll shut it now, thank you very much Professor." Peter smiled over his friend's head at Remus, who rolled his eyes and pushed his bookbag to the floor, opening up the bench to the Head Boy and Girl.

…

"_Pettigrew! You lazy Muggle-lover, move your arse along, why don't you?_" Mulciber whispered to him from the shadows by the dungeon staircase. Nervously, Peter shuffled to meet him, silently praying that this meeting would just be to tell him that he didn't need to join the Slytherins' creepy cult anymore, that it was all just a joke, that Volde-whatsisface didn't want a nasty Gryffindor in his ranks anyway… He knew that wouldn't actually happen, but what else could be so damn urgent that they had needed to see him in the terri-fucking-fying dungeon right on the second night of term?

He had descended a few steps into the darkness (it would seem that Peeves had come through and deemed it his responsibility to extinguish all of the torches) when a hand covered his mouth and he was roughly shoved into the dungeon wall. His thoughts flickered to his friends, up in the common room, probably discussing James' parents and how good ol' Pete had to sneak off, the tosser… For a moment, he considered transforming into his Animagus form, but the legal consequences for that could be so much worse than what he might experience at the hands of these idiots. Thank Merlin he had learned to Spellotape his wand to his hip, so that he was the only one to find it and use it. If only they would just let him g- BANG! a red flash shot through Peter's vision, and he fell into darkness.


End file.
